MOREHEAD, Ky. (Dec. 1, 2012) – After securing its first win of the season on Friday night, the ETSU women’s basketball team goes back on the road to take on the Morehead State Eagles on Sunday afternoon inside Johnson Arena at 2 p.m.

ETSU (1-2) is coming off a 10-point victory against Memphis, which saw sophomore Brianna Bogard (Georgetown, Texas) score a career-high 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including four makes from distance. The win helped ETSU avoid back-to-back 0-3 starts for the first time in program history, after losing to High Point and Chattanooga on the road to begin the year.

The Lady Bucs will now look to even up their record, and hope for junior Destiny Mitchell (Bluffton, Ga.) to continue her hot start. In three games, Mitchell is averaging 18.3 points to lead the Atlantic Sun Conference, and 8.7 rebounds to rank among the league’s top 10. Against Memphis, Mitchell netted 14 points and grabbed 16 boards to register her first double-double of the season and 22nd of her ETSU career. Mitchell also leads the conference from the charity stripe at 90.0 percent, and in steals per game (3.0), while ranking among the top 10 in field goal percentage (52.3) and offensive rebounds (4.7).

Bogard is the other Lady Buc to average double figures in scoring at 11.3 per contest. Freshman Brianna McQueen (Jonesboro, Ga.) ranks third on the team at 9.7 points per game, with redshirt sophomore transfer Serena Clark (Tucker, Ga.) coming in at 8.3 points and 5.7 rebounds.

ETSU’s Last Outing

With the help of a 23-0 run in the first half, and Bogard’s career night, the Lady Bucs downed Memphis, 83-73, to tally their first win of the 2012-13 campaign. ETSU’s huge run came after the Tigers had taken a 9-2 lead, putting the Lady Bucs up 25-9 at the 8:52 mark of the opening half. During the run, Bogard shot a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, while Memphis missed 10 consecutive shots.

ETSU’s largest lead of the half came on Bogard’s fourth three-pointer, putting the Blue and Gold up by 20, 35-15, at the 5:31 mark. The Tigers cut that lead to nine with about a minute to go before halftime, but Shawn Randall (Orlando, Fla.) buried a long-range bucket with seven seconds remaining to give ETSU a 12-point cushion, 40-28, with the Lady Bucs outrebounding Memphis 30-20 through the first 20 minutes.

Memphis only got as close as nine the rest of the way, but that didn’t come until just 20 seconds remained. ETSU finished the night with four players in double figures, as Mitchell scored 14 points and had 16 rebounds, Randall had 16 points, and Duke had 10 points to go along with Bogard’s career-high. Nicole Dickson led all scorers with 30 points on 10-of-25 shooting.

Scouting the Eagles

Morehead State (1-5) will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak, in which it has been outscored by an average of 22.8 points per contest. Those four defeats have come at the hands of Northern Illinois, Xavier, Kentucky and Cincinnati. The biggest defeat came by 33 just over a week ago in Lexington, Ky. MSU’s only win came against the A-Sun’s Kennesaw State, 50-49, back on Nov. 17.

As a team, the Eagles average just 46.8 points, while surrendering 64.7 per. Terrice Robinson leads the offense, averaging 12.8 points and 3.0 rebounds. Casey Ryans is the Eagles’ leading rebounder, averaging 4.2 through the first six games. Almesha Jones has 18 assists to average 3.0 per outing.

Series History

Sunday afternoon’s matchup will be the eighth in series history between the Lady Bucs and Morehead State, with the Eagles holding a slight 4-3 advantage. The series was reopened last year after not being played since the 1990-91 season, with ETSU getting the better of the Eagles, 68-57, in Johnson City. The win moved ETSU to 1-10 on the year, snapping its program worst, 10-game losing streak. The win was also ETSU’s second straight in the series, having won the contest in December of 1990, 96-83. The last time the two teams met in Morehead, Ky., was in November of ’89, as Morehead came out victorious, 77-72.

Coverage

The OVC Digital Network will be broadcasting the game online. Live audio and live stats are also available through MSUEagles.com.

ETSU Notes

- ETSU will be looking for consecutive victories for the first time since winning three in a row in early January. Those three wins came in conference play against USC Upstate, Mercer and Kennesaw State, and were the only ETSU strung together all season.

- With a win, ETSU will be .500 or better for the first time since finishing 19-12 in 2010-11.

- Destiny Mitchell leads the team and Atlantic Sun Conference at 18.3 points per game. Mitchell is also first in the conference in free throw percentage (90.0) and steals (3.0), while ranking among the top 10 in rebounding (8.7), field goal percentage (52.3) and offensive rebounds (4.7).

- Brianna Bogard leads the team and A-Sun in field goal percentage (58.8) and three-point field goal percentage (58.3) following her career night on Friday with 22 points against Memphis.

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